We are thrilled to have Olivia Martino Blodgett, MS, RD, LD, CPT of Nourish Northwest as part of our integrative team at the Turning Pointe clinic.
If you are in need of inspiration for beautiful whole food recipes (she’s also a personal chef), follow her Instagram account @nourishnw. She is a wealth of knowledge so we thought we’d have her write a guest post to introduce herself. She shares a delicious plant-based recipe as well! Enjoy…
Hello! My name is Olivia and I am a Registered Dietitian. I am so thrilled to be part of the team at Turning Point Acupuncture! I have been in private practice by myself for the last few years and am so happy to be able to interact with other practitioners again!
I started my career as a WIC (Women’s Infant and Children’s) nutritionist and found a love for working with these populations. Throughout my eleven years in practice I have worked with hundreds of clients for weight loss, food allergies, gastrointestinal distress, diabetes and many other nutrition-related health problems. I have enjoyed keeping a broad scope of practice but after going through a pregnancy and now working on implementing healthy eating behaviors with my own child, I am thrilled to be reminded of my roots in nutrition. I have a renewed passion for working with women and children and am hoping to reach more clients in these lifecycle stages.
Throughout the course of my career, I also added personal trainer and personal chef to my credentials. These additions happened organically, as I noticed that sitting in an office and discussing nutrition recommendations did not often result in behavior change. My clients and I needed to find a way to put goals into action. I found that coaching people through movement, teaching them how to cook or cooking for them has significantly helped to facilitate long lasting results.
My two passions in life are physical activity and cooking and I believe there is so much joy to be found in these areas. Healthy food should taste good, make you feel good and should be accessible. I absolutely love teaching my clients how to make this a reality. To me, there is nothing more exciting than when a client makes a recipe I gave them, or tastes a bite of my food and is inspired to approach life in a healthier manner.
Here is one of my favorite nourishing recipes that is loved by everyone I have shared it with:
Moroccan Stew
INGREDIENTS
1 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
3 medium carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1 large Vidalia onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp freshly grated ginger
½ tsp ground coriander
½ tsp ground turmeric
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp kosher salt
One 28-ounce can diced or crushed tomatoes
Two 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed or 3 cups cooked chickpeas
1 cup dried red lentils
4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
Juice of ½ lemon
¼ cup finely chopped cilantro leaves
PROCEDURE
In a large pot set over medium heat, heat the olive oil. Add the carrots and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic, cumin, ginger, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon and salt and cook, stirring often, until the mixture is fragrant, 1½ to 2 minutes.
Add the diced tomatoes and cook, stirring any browned bits up from the bottom of the pot, until the mixture has slightly reduced, 5 to 7 minutes.
Stir in the chickpeas and lentils, add the vegetable broth and bring to a simmer over high heat. Once it comes to a simmer, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the lentils are tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
Turn off the heat and stir in the lemon juice and 3 tablespoons cilantro. Serve sprinkled with the remaining 1 tablespoon cilantro.
